Calendar clock



G. H. STEPHENS CALENDAR CLOCK Dec. 25, 1934.

Filed June 17, 193]. 4 Sheets-5h66?l .Dea-25, 1934. G. HY. STEPHENS CALENDAR CLOCK 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jupe 17, 1931 1| l l l l l L l l l l l |.l

G. H. STEPHENS CALENDAR CLOCK Dec. 25, 1934.

Filed June 17, 195? 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 TDGC. 25, 1934 G. H. STEPHENS CALENDAR CLOCK Filed June 1'7, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Dec. 25, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CALENDAR CLOCK Application June i7, 193i, Serial No. 545,033

9 Claims.

My invention relates generally to clocks and more particularly to clocks having means for indicating the day of the week and the date of the month.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved calendar clock having simple and durable means for indicating the day and date.

A further object is to provide an improved clock having a plurality of coaxial discs, portions of which are visible through the clock dial, and to provide improved means for rotating said discs.

A further object is to provide an improved means for resetting the discs of a calendar clock.

A further object is to provide improved pawl and ratchet mechanism for rotating the discs of a calendar clock.

A further object is to provide a disc of improved construction for use in a calendar clock.

A further object is to provide improved means for mounting indicator discs of a time indicating mechanism.

A further object is to provide an improved method of assembling a clock.

A further object is to provide an improved mounting means for an electric clock.

A further object is to provide improved means for assembling the dial, crystal, bezel and clock housing.

Other objects will appear from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the face of a clock;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail illustrating the method by which the bezel is connected to the housing;

Figure 3 is a central vertical sectional View iurther illustrating the bezel-housing connection;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 5;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Fig.l4;

Figure 'i is an enlarged-fragmentary section taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 8;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the disc operating mechanism in operated position;

Figure 9 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing particularly the resetting mechanism in operated position; and

Figure l0 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line l0 10 of Fig. 8 andillustrating particularly the disc resetting mechanism.

The clock of my invention is adapted to be mounted in any suitable casing 20. The clock mechanism, which is preferably of the electric synchronous type such for example as that illustrated in the application of Laurens Hammond, Serial No. 515,599 led February 13, 1931, is supported by three frame plates 22, 24 and 26. The frame plates are held in spaced relation by a plurality of studs 28 each of which has a threaded reduced end portion 30 projecting through the plate 22, the studs being secured to said plate by nuts 32. The nuts 32 each has a reduced cylindrical end portion 34 which is surrounded by a relatively soft rubber bushing 36. Each of the studs 28 has a shoulder 38 forming an abutment for the center :trame plate 24 and a threaded portion adjacent said shoulder to receive a nut 40 by which the plate 24 may be clamped against the shoulder. Each of the studs likewise has a shoulder 42 and a threaded end portion 44 to receive a nut 46 by which the rear frame plate 26 may be clamped against the shoulder 42. The nuts 46 are similar in shape to the nuts 34 and each is surrounded with a rubber bushing 48. The clock mechanism is surrounded by a housing which comprises a cylindrical shell 50 having van inwardly bent ange 52 at its rearward end. A dished calendar mechanism supporting plate 54 has a forwardly extending ange 56 terminating in an outwardly extending annular flange 58, the flanged portion 56 tting snugly within the housing shell 50. rThe plate 54 has a plurality oi apertures surrounded by rearwardly extending flanges 60 to receive the reduced portions of the rubber bushings 36. The plate 54 thus forms a support for the iront end of the clock mechanism which is mounted between the frame plates 22, 24 and 26. A plurality of sockets 62 are riveted to the flange 52 and are adapted to receive the rubber bushings 48 and thus form a rear support for the mechanism carried by the frame plates. A flanged head plate 64, a sheet 66 of sound-absorbent material and a rear cover plate 68 are secured to the housing shell 50 by means of screws '70 threaded into the sockets 62.

As best illustrated'in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the crystal .g

a day of the week indicating disc 86 (hereinafter referred to as the day dial) and a day of the mouth indicating disc 88 (hereinafter referred to as the date dial). The face dial 82 has a substantially rectangular shaped opening 90 through which the day of the week is visible and a substantially square opening 92 through which the date is visible. The face dial 82 is supported by the mounting plate 84 which has a peripheral rearwardly bent annular flange 94 which abuts against the supporting plate 54. The day dial 86 is substantially circular in shape and has a central opening which bears upon a bushing 96 which is carried by a sleeve 98, the latter being supported by the plate 54. As best illustrated in Fig. 6 the day dial 86 has marked upon it the seven days of the week in usual sequence and beneath each of these indicia a substantially square sight aperture 100. The periphery of the day dial 86 has seven teeth 102 formed thereon, each of the teeth forming a notch 104. The teeth 102 are spaced by arcuate portions 106. The date dial 88 is also mounted on the bushing 96 and has marked adjacent its periphery the numbers from 1 to 31 inclusive, the numbers being arranged sequentially and being equally spaced around the periphery so that only one of the numbers will be visible at one time through thefsight opening 92 in the face dial 82 and opening 100 in the day dial 86. The date dial 88 has thirty-one ratchet teeth 108 formed on its periphery. The peripheral edge of the day dial 86 is flexed slightly rearwardly so as not to lie in an exact plane by a circular bead 110 formed in the face dial mounting plate 84 and the peripheral edge of the date dial 88 is similarly flexed forwardly by arcuate projections 112 (Figs. 4 and 5) pressed forwardly from the supporting plate 54. It will be noted that the date dial and day dial are thus confined between the face dial mounting plate 84 and the supporting plate 54, the former being spaced from the latter by its flange 94 and held against the latter by the crystal 72 which presses the face dial and face dial mounting plate rearwardly, being held against these parts by the bezel 74. These parts may thus be easily assembled merely by placing them in position and tightening the bezel to the housing shell 50.

The clock mechanism may as previously stated be of any suitable construction and has a pinion 114 secured to its hour hand sleeve 116 which is driven by a gear 118 of the gear train of the clock driving mechanism. '111e hour hand sleeve has a tapered end 120 to receive the ferrule" 122 which carries the hour hand 124. A minute hand 126 is secured to a minute hand sleeve 128 which is rotatable within the hour hand` sleeve 116, by a nut 130. A second hand 132 is carried at the end of a second hand shaft 134 which is rotatable within the minute hand sleeve 128.

The pinion 114 which, being secured to the hour hand sleeve 116, makes one revolution in twelve hours, meshes with a gear 136 which has twice as many teeth as the pinion 114 and is secured to a hub 137 freely rotatable on a shouldered stud 138 which vis riveted to a depressed portion 140 of the supporting plate 54. The gear 136 hasa pin 142 riveted thereto, the pin projecting forwardly into an irregularly shaped cam slot 144 formed in an actuating lever 146. This lever is freely pivoted upon the sleeve 98, being spaced from the supporting plate 54 by a plurality of depressions 148 formed in the lever and held against an annular flange 150 formed on the sleeve 98. The lever 146l at its lower end carmesses `ing 158, and the latter thus rigidly secures the end of said spring to the lever 146. The free end of the spring bears against a pawl pin 162,l

fitting in an annular groove 164 formed in the latter. The pin 162 is secured in the lever 154 by a press t and projects from both sides of the latter. 'I'he forwardly projecting portion of the vpin 162 extends through an arcuate slotl 166 formed adjacent the periphery of the supporting plate 54, the pin being normally held against the upper edge (Fig. 5) of this slot 166 by the spring 160. .The slot 166 has a widened portion 168 adjacent its right hand end (Fig. 5). The pin is thu's restrained by the narrow portion of the slot 166 so as to be able to engage only the teeth 102 of the day dial which it will be noted from Fig. 6 project slightly beyond the teeth 108 of the date dial. When the pin however reaches the widened portion 168 of the slot the pin will also be capable of engaging one of the teeth 108 of the date dial.

Means for setting or resetting the date and day dialsiis provided. This means comprises (Figs.

5 and 10) a shaft 170 having a thumb nut 172 (Fig. 4) at its rearward end and having a bushing 174 bearing in a suitable aperture formed in the supporting plate 54. at its forward end. A pinion 176 is secured to the bushing 174 and meshes with a gear segment 178 formed upon a resetting lever 180 which is pivotally mounted on the bushing 98. The resetting lever 180 has forwardly struck projections 182 which normally contact with the supporting plate 54 and rearwardly struck circular projection 184 which contacts with the actuating lever 146, and the resetting lever is thus frictionally held in its proper position between the supporting plate 54 and the lever 146.

The right hand end (Fig. 5) of the lever 180 carries a pawl lever 186 having a pawl pin 188 and a pawl spring 190, these parts being of the same construction as the corresponding parts of the pawl assembly secured to the lever 146. The pawl pin 188 projects through an arcuate slot 192 formed in the supporting plate 54 adjacent its peripheral edge, the slot 192 being of the same width throughout its length. The pawl pin 188 is thus capable of engaging both the teeth 102 ofthe day dial and the teeth 108 of the date dial throughout the extent of its movement through the full length of the arcuate slot 192. Clockwise (Fig.A 5) movement of the lever 180 is limited by a stop lug 194 struck rearwardly from the supporting plate 54 and counterclockwise movement thereof is limited by a similar lug 196 likewise struck from said plate 54.

The operation of the above described mechanism is as follows;

The pinion 114 is of course rotated counterclockwise (Fig. 5) by the driving mechanism of the clock and rotates the gear 136 clockwise at the rate of one revolution in twenty-four hours. In Fig. 5 the gear 136 is shown in the position which it will assume at approximately midnight since the pin 142 is just about to engage the edge of the irregular cam slot 144. Continued clockwise movement of the gear 136 will cause the pin to engage the edge of the cam slot and swing the lever 146 counterclockwise to substantially the position as shown in Fig. 8. It will be noted that seventh of a revolution.

in Fig. 5 the pawl pin 162 lies in front of one of the teeth 102 of the day dial and during this counterclockwise swinging movement of the lever 146 the pawl pin will engage the teeth 102 and rotate the day dial 86 counterclockwise through one- (The terms clockwise and counterclockwise refer to the illustrations of the mechanism vshown in Figs. 5, 8 and 9 which are sections taken from the rear, and the directions vwill thus be the opposite of those as seen looking at the clock in front elevation.) Just prior to the completion of the counterclockwise swinging movement of the lever 146 the pawl pin will ride inwardly at the widened portion 168 of the slot 166 and will thus be capable of engaging a tooth 108 of the date dial and advance the latiter counterclockwise through one-thirty-first of a revolution. It will be seen from a comparison of Figs. 5 and 8 that complete actuation of the day and date dials is accomplished by rotation of the gear` 136 through a little more than one-eighth of a revolution and hence the dial discs will normally be operated during the period of from twelve midnight to three or four oclock in the morning. During this operation the pin 142 will ride along the surface 198. After a complete counterclockwise actuation of the lever 146 the pin 142 will be free'from engagement with the walls of the earn slot 144 for an angular distance of approximately 45 and thereafter will engage the edge 200 of the slot 144 and through such engagement swing the lever 146 clockwise and returrnthe lever to the position shown in Fig. 5.

Since the calendar mechanism does not provide any means for compensating for months having different numbers of days, it is desirable that a simple and easily operable means be providedl to reset the day and date dials. These dials may be reset in the following manner. The oper ator rotates the thumb nut 172 thereby rotating the pinion 176 clockwise and hence swinging the resetting lever 180 counterclockwise. During such pivotal movement the pawl pin 188 will of course engage both the teeth 102 of the day dial and the teeth 108 of the date dial and rotate both dials counterclockwise (Figs. 5, 8 and 9). 'Ihe stops 194 and 196 limit this movement to approximately one-seventh of a revolution so that the operator may by successive clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of the setting thumb nut 172, rotate the day dial to the position necessary to cause the desired day indicia to be visible through the opening in the face dial 82. It is possible or probable that upon thus properly setting the day dial the date dial may be incorrectly set. To obviate this condition the operator will, as soon as the day dial is properly set, through proper manipulation of the thumb nut 172 permit the resetting lever to move through only a portion of its return or clockwisev stroke. The pawl pin 188 will thus successfully pass over either one or possibly two of the teeth 108 of the date dial, where-s upon, upon a following counterclockwise movement of the resetting lever, the pawl pin will engage only the teeth 108 yand rotate only the date dial. It is thus possiblesfor the operator, by limiting the extent of swinging movement of the resetting lever- 180, to reset only the date dial.

It will be noted, especially from Fig. 4, that practically all of the moving parts of the calendar mechanism are frictionally and resiliently held in position. This construction makes it unnecessary to observe extremely close tolerances in manufacture of the clock and greatly facilitates the assembling operation. The fact that all the parts are frictionally held in place prevents them from rattling and insures a positive operation by elimination of the possibility of overthrow. It will be further noted that the calendar mechanism comprises a very small number of parts and that the actuating parts are extremely simple in construction and operation so that there is very little possibility of their getting out of order and so that the clockmechanism will be very durable and the complete mechanism may be very economically manufactured.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent oi the United States is:

l. In a clock, the combination of a motive mechanism including a gear train, a face dial having a pair of sight apertures therein, a dayindicating dial and a date-indicating dial behind said face dial so as to have the indications thereof observable through the apertures in said face dial, said day dial having a plurality of apertures therein through which the indications of said date dial may be observed, said date dial and day dial each having ratchet teeth formed thereon, common intermittently operable pawl means engageable with said ratchet teeth of said dials to rotate the latter, means driven from said clock gear train for moving said pawl means to and fro at a relatively slow speed, and a' separate manual- .ly operated pawl engageable with the ratchet teeth on said dials for setting the latter.

2. In a calendar clock, the combination of a clock mechanism having hour and minute indicating means, a facedial associated with said means, said face dial having a plurality of sight apertures therein, day and date indicating dials mounted for rotation behind said face dial and having their indications observable through said sight apertures, a plurality of ratchet teeth on each of said dials, a pawl engageable with said ratchet teeth, intermittently operable means for swinging said pawl to rotate said day and date dials, and stationary means located in a plane behind all of said dials to hold said pawl out of engagement with the ratchet teeth of one of said dials during a portion only of each operative stroke of the pawl.

3. Ina clock, the combination of a plurality of relatively movable dials and levers for operating said'dials, means to support said dials and levers for rotation ,about a common axis, and spacing projections formed upon some of said levers and dials operative slightly to flex the peripheral portions of said dials toward one another and thereby to cause a limited amount of friction between said parts.

4; In a calendar clock, the combination of a face dial having apertures therein, a day dial and a date dial mounted for rotation about the axis of said face dial and positioned successively behind the latter, said day dial having a number of teeth formed upon its peripheral edge, said date dial having a larger number of ratchet teeth formed on its periphery than are on said day dial, the outside diameter of said day dial being greater than that of said date dial, friction means -for holding said dials in any position to which they may be moved, a pawl engageable `with the teeth of both of said dials, positively opy erating driving means for oscillating said pavvl through a complete cycle, and stationary means positioned in a plane behind all dof said dials for holding said paWl away from the teeth of said date dial during a portion only o every oscillatory stroke of said pavvl.

5. 2in a clock, the combination of a plurality oi frame plates for supporting the mechanism there of, a case therefor, a plurality o shouldered studs rigidlyv connecting said frame plates, said studs having projecting end portions, shock absorbing resilient bushings around said projections, a cylindrical housing around said mechanism, said housing having means toreceive said resilient bushings, a crystal, and a bezel holding said crystal in place and having a engageable with said case, said bezel and hous having cooperative bayonet slot coupling means `lor detachably securing said bezel and crystal to said housing and securing said housin.'y case.

6. .in a calendar clo the combination of a plurality ci tinie-indicating dials mounted for rotation about a cornrnon axis, each or said dials having peripheral ratchet teeth formed thereon, the teeth of one dial spaced at greater intervals than those of the other and differing in 'outside diameter but having substantially equal root diameters, a common pavvl engageable with the teeth on both o said dials, and optionally operable means for swinging said pawl through an arc slightly greater 'than the spacing between the teeth on the dial having the lesser number or" teeth or through an angle substantially less than said arc but greater than the spacing between the teeth on said dial having the greater number of teeth.

7. ln a clock, the combination of a lever, a shouldered bushing secured to said lever, a spring i, menace rigidly secured between the shoulder of said bushing and said lever and thereby clamped to said lever, and a pavvl arm having a projection freely rotatable in said bushing at one end and a transverse pin at the other end thereof, said pin having means for receiving said spring whereby said spring Will be operative to hold said pin and pawl arm in pivotal association with said bushing, and to resiliently bias said pavvl arm for pivotal movement in one direction.

8. In a clock, the combination of a cylindrical housing, plates for substantially closing the ends of said cylindrical housing, a plurality of indicating discs mounted outside said housing adjacent one of said plates, a dial backing plate having a flange at its peripheral edge, said ange surrounding said indicating discs, a face dial mounted on said dial backing plate, a crystal having its edge engaging said face dial, and a bezel for holding said crystal in engagement with said face dial, said bezel end cylindrical housing having interengaging d lily detachable connecting means for drawing said bezel toward said housing.

9. in a calendar clock, the combination of day and date indicating disks mounted for relative rotation about a common axis and having their central portions laterally spaced from one another, the indicia on said disks being located adjacent their peripheries, and a pair of plates, one on each side of said indicating disks, said plates having relatively smooth surfaced projections thereon engageable with said disks near the peripheries thereof slightly to flex the latter toward one another, thereby to exert a rictional drag thereupon and to bring the indicia bearing surfaces thereof into close propinquity.

GEORGE l-. STEPHENS. 

